Door to Door
"Door to Door" is the fourth episode from Season 3 of Modern Family, it aired on October 5, 2011. Plot Summary Everyone sets their eyes on a goal: Jay is determined to help Manny sell wrapping paper for a school fundraiser; Claire petitions the city for a stop sign to be installed at a high-traffic intersection; Mitchell is hell bent on proving a point with Cameron, and neither one of them will back down; Phil and Luke will stop at nothing to create a viral video sensation; and Gloria is desperate to find Stella after losing her. Episode Description Claire is on the warpath once again. After hitting the brakes hard at a dangerous intersection, she is quite upset about it. Alex isn't too thrilled, either, as Claire practices her "stop short" maneuver Frank Costanza used to do on passengers and Haley smears her lipstick (not according to Alex, though). But they get going, and run over Phil, whose combination of speed-walk and Speed-wagon isn't helping. Claire decides to start a petition to get a stop sign put in. The family is ecstatic, because it typically meant Claire will not be policing them while she works on her project, including Phil and Luke going pants-optional and attempting to recreate a viral video of Luke putting a basketball through the hoop off of Phil's head. However, she needs everybody to help her collect signatures so it will be brought up by the city council. While Mitchell berates Cameron about making a mess in the kitchen with his experimental cooking (and for forgetting when the adoption agency wanted to reschedule their home visit), Manny has to sell wrapping paper at school to pay for a Drama Club trip to see Les Misérables. Gloria thinks it's no problem; Jay just needs to crack out the checkbook. However, Jay is prepared to go Willy Loman on Manny, giving him life lessons about selling. Gloria still hasn't made her peace with Stella, and she puts the dog outside and then remembers she tends to leave the gate open a lot, what means that Stella has escaped. Manny isn't used to rejection (or hills) so he is ready to give up after going to three houses. But Jay tells him he is selling more than wrapping paper: he is selling Christmas. Meanwhile, Gloria enlists Cam's help to find Stella. Complete in an undershirt, he calls out for the dog. Only Mitchell calls him because he left the kitchen a mess. Cam tells him to wait until he gets back, and Mitchell vows not to clean it up. Of course, to Mitch, the temptation is too great. Until Lily wants some raisins and Mitch has to go into the very messy kitchen and gets them. Going door-to-door in't working well for anybody: not for Claire trying to get her signatures, not for Gloria and Cam trying to find Stella, and not for Jay and Manny trying to sell wrapping paper. Claire comes home to find Phil feeling no pain, or anything else for that matter. Luke throwing a basketball at his head a few dozen times may have had something to do with it. Claire can't get any signatures, although she got a sprinkler aimed at her. She berates everybody about not getting any signatures, or even doing the things they said they would do instead of getting signatures. Claire is going off the deep end because, unlike the mom from The Blind Side, her family doesn't have her back. Manny is ready to give up, but Jay wants him to keep trying. Manny confesses he will not be as talented and tenacious as Jay, and he feels ashamed about it. Jay smiles and buys his wrapping paper. Claire makes it to the traffic committee meeting, only Duane Bailey is not very happy his birthday cake isn't an ice-cream cake. Then he is so thrilled when realizes that Claire presents only 34 signatures instead of the requisite 50. But then the family comes through with 20 more. Duane will take the proposal under advisement, which Phil is all to happy to translate as Washington-speak for "get lost." He's blind-siding his wife. Luke makes a viral video of Clive Bixby (Phil's alter-ego) driving while on the phone. Phil demonstrates he might hit a kid at that intersection, but Duane doesn't care and tells them to leave. On the good side, Phil getting hit in the head repeatedly with the basketball already had 78 hits. Cam finally makes it home and is happy that Mitch left the mess. Cam starts picking up the dirty dishes and is freaking out a bit. Mitch finally figures out Cam's scheme and starts making a huge mess of the entire apartment, even giving Lily a princess hat with whipped cream. Cam breaks down and admits he hates cleaning up and put it off knowing Mitchell would do it. That's right when the woman from the adoption agency comes for the home visit. Main Cast (The characters striked out do not appear in this episode) * Jay Pritchett * Gloria Pritchett * Manny Delgado * Claire Dunphy * Phil Dunphy * Haley Dunphy * Alex Dunphy * Luke Dunphy * Mitchell Pritchett * Cameron Tucker * Lily Tucker-Pritchett Guest Starring *David Cross as Duane Bailey *Jordan Feldman as Olson *Paleigh Knight as Blanche *Bob Levitan as Eco Neighbor *Michelle Anne Johnson as Ellen Roberts aka Adoption Official *Robin Krieger as Jewish Neighbor *Michael D. Cohen as Odd Neighbor *Murray Gershenz as Elderly Neighbor Trivia * This is Manny's 50th episode. * This is the first episode to feature Duane Bailey. Continuity *Phil reappears in the persona of Clive Bixby, from "My Funky Valentine", "Bixby's Back", and "The One That Got Away". *Phil was previously seen power walking in "Run for Your Wife". *This episode aired exactly five years before Blindsided. Cultural References *The episode title is a reference to the sales technique of the same name. *Manny has to sell wrapping paper at school to pay for a Drama Club trip to see Les Misérables. *Mitchell can't read what says in the Vanity Fair because disappears into Jennifer Aniston's hair. *When Cameron helps Gloria to look for Stella, he wears an undershirt and screams "Stella", like in the play A Streetcar Named Desire. *Claire says that she can't ask for a simple signature, but it's fine for the neighbors to build a house that looks like The Beverly Hillbillies just moved in. *Claire tells the family that change is forged by empowered women like her, Norma Rae and the lady from The Blind Side. Gallery Doortodoor.jpg Doortodoor2.jpg Doortodoor.png Doortodoor9.jpg Doortodoor6.jpg Doortodoor11.jpg Doortodoor12.jpg Doortodoor3.jpg Doortodoor7.jpg Doortodoor8.jpg Doortodoor4.jpg Doortodoor5.jpg Doortodoor10.jpg Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Content